I was an Ibiza rep in the 90’s – what I saw was CARNAGE, but there’s darker stuff I’ll never forget

A FORMER holiday rep from Ibiza has revealed what it was really like working there during the party islands’ ‘golden age’ of the 1990s.

Julian Cobby, a father of two now 57, became a holiday representative for the legendary 18-30 club after traveling to the island in 1989 and never looking back.

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He was there during Ibiza’s extraordinary heyday as it embraced rave culture and legendary superclubs like Amnesia and Pacha played electronic music from some of the world’s top DJs.

Julian guided Brits to the best nightspots when they arrived on the island, having become a vibrant palace of blissful hedonism.

Pleasure seekers packed the dance floors and explored the drug scene, experimented with LSD and ecstasy and partied until sunrise.

Nightclub frenzy was the order of the day, as DJ Carl Cox once said: “Back in the 1990s, if you had a camera, you had to leave it in the dressing room.

“Well, if you wanted to have sex in the middle of the club, you could. Nobody would care.”

But working as a tour guide meant Julian was mostly unfazed by drunken tourists and horny holidaymakers who found the island to romp around.

Speaking to The Sun Online at his San Antonio bar, he looked back fondly on his time in the ’90s but says it was “all good clean fun”.

However, Julian admits the island also had a dark side – one of his most shocking memories was the death of a tourist who fell from a balcony just weeks after starting the job.

He told The Sun: “It was a bit difficult to find my way around.

“It was purely an accident, he fell off a balcony, he wasn’t drunk or anything, that was a bit difficult to deal with I think.”

He recalls that Brit got so drunk they went missing for days while others went wild and engaged in bizarre acts.

He said: “Our job was to pick up customers from the airport, take them to their hotels and give them information about the resort.

“We sold them packages of outings, which were usually barbecues, beach parties, a cabaret or something like that.

“A lot of stupid incidents have happened, if you have 500 people on a beach these things happen.”

Julian said: “The funniest thing I remember was a guy who was staying at Hostel Valencia and was absolutely p****d.

“He went down to the port and kept saying ‘Valencia hostel’ to the fishermen, so they actually took him to Valencia.

“It took him three days to come back.”

He added: “Another guy brought his skis on holiday and actually tried to ski up West End Street.”

Ibiza’s rave reputation really took off in the 1990s and it became a private party hotspot for the rich and famous, with rumors like Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise having frequented it.

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Clubs like Manumission and Privilege became known for their wild sex shows, while nude aerialists and scantily clad dancers took center stage in the clubs.

Of her time in Ibiza in 1997, Sun reporter Samantha Brick said: “… Then there were all the 18 to 30 day trips.

“A couple had sex behind some bushes on a day trip. We had only arrived half an hour ago.”

Julian worked as a salesman in Ibiza for three summers while working at a ski resort in the winter, but later settled in San Antonio as a bar owner before having his two sons.

He added: “I have fabulous memories, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

“The agents back then were like the crews you find on luxury yachts and the customers were a bit like that [celebs on] island of love

“People are a little different now – there weren’t that many photos or Instagram and social media so it was easier to hide.

“Being a rep was great fun, I think people who do it now don’t get into the guests as much as they used to.

“We used to be with them from breakfast at the hotel until we made sure they were back at the hotel in the morning.

“It’s easy to sit in a tower of ivy and say drunken Brits abroad while forgetting that at 18 you would probably be boarding a plane, the plane door opened at your destination, you felt the heat, you were in a bar which stayed open until 6am and you could buy liquor.

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